Pickup crash caused Lower Macungie Township gas leak incident

Legacy Oaks at Lehigh Valley resident drove pickup truck through three garages and a gas meter.

(APRIL BARTHOLOMEW / THE…)

July 26, 2012|By Daniel Patrick Sheehan, Of The Morning Call

An 87-year-old resident of a Lower Macungie Township adult community crashed his pickup truck into three garages Thursday morning trying to back out of his driveway, rupturing a gas line and forcing evacuations of 12 condominiums.

"It was like bumper pool," Lower Macungie Assistant Fire Chief Brent McNabb said trying to explain how the damage happened to three garages and a gas meter and line.

State police Sgt. David Nosal said the man driving the pickup truck, John Howard Stevens, was not injured, but was taken to Lehigh Valley Hospital for evaluation.

The accident caused substantial damage to his garage and two others on Letterkenny Lane and Donegal Drive in Legacy Oaks at Lehigh Valley development.

The incident was initially reported at 10:30 a.m. as a structure fire at 2829 Donegal Drive, and responding firefighters requested UGI to the scene for a possible gas explosion with structural damage upon seeing the damaged garage doors.

All of the damage, though, was caused by a Chevrolet Colorado pickup.

According to state police, Stevens was parked in his driveway and backed up into a garage door to the rear of his condominium. He then pulled forward and drove into his open garage, hitting the wall shared with the garage of another condominium.

He tried a second time to back up and ended up crashing through the garage door next to the first garage door he hit, this time crashing through the door and rear wall. The truck hit a gas meter between two garages, breaking the line.

John Tycholiz of 2829 Donegal Drive in Legacy Oaks at Lehigh Valley said he called 911 after he heard a loud crashing noise in his condominium and discovered his garage filled with smoke.

"All of my stuff was all over the place, and the back wall of the garage was pushed in," Tycholiz said. "I was just getting ready for work and heard, crash, boom, boom!"

Because of the gas leak, emergency responders evacuated residents from 12 units to the development's clubhouse. UGI shut off the gas and was replacing the line.

Legacy Oaks is a community for adults 55 and older and includes single family houses and condominiums east of Route 100 between Willow Lane and Mill Creek Road.